Herniated disk in lower back. How to find a guide I can trust? Looking for advice.

abdada · 2017-02-22T00:09:57+00:00

Yeah, read Dr. Sarno's book and I bet you'll feel 70-90% better in 2 days.

dopefits · Wed Feb 22 0:12:42 2017 UTC

I actually had a herniated disk as well. I can send you the program my physiothetapist sent me. It's just excerises with bodyweight and some stretches. After I did that program for about a month I went back to the gym but started with really small weights when doing back-focused excersises. Now I'm back to 225 deadlift but I will never go higher from this because of the risk of hurting my back again.

empatheticapathetic · 2017-02-22T00:58:38+00:00

Hello bro. I started lifting in Oct 2015 then by April 2016 i stopped as i had developed some disc issues due to bad form. Took me months to realise what exactly was going on. Did months of physio, nothing. Did home exercises, nothing. Had daily brutal pain, doctors didn't give a fuck.

Moved away in January 2017 and started going to yoga with my sister. Within a month of starting yoga (twice a week) i am about 70% better and i've even started lifting again.

Stop lifting for a while if you're in pain. Go to yoga and get that shit back in place.

Don't fuck with your fucking back. I was so fucking desperate to keep lifting but thank fuck i just got over it and made recovery top priority.

[deleted] · 2017-02-22T09:37:42+00:00

If it was from the lifting weights then you obviously have mobility problems and are not moving in the correct way which is why this happened in the first place.... you need to start moving correctly. Buy Becoming a Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett and start moving correctly before you touch heavy weights again...this book is gold it will save you from getting pretty much any injury possible.

hardbawdie · 2017-02-22T05:58:51+00:00

A herniated disk is when the spine undergoes flexion or extension while under intense load. The disk is pinched and sheered under stress which damages the cartilage and slightly moves it out of alignment. This is the reason you don't want to arc your lower back while deadlifting and why a butt wink can be dangerous in squats. Learn from this: minimize movement in the spine while loaded.

The pain you experience occurs because the disk is inflamed and out of alignment, protruding and coming into contact with the nerves which surround your spine. This contact will cause great radiating discomfort in various ways throughout your back/hip. The pain can also radiate down your ass and legs (sciatica).

To recover from this you need to rest first (sounds like you've already done this). The next step is to determine what movement caused your herniation. To do this you can test by bending forward and backward as far as possible or until pain occurs (without any weights). Usually it will be bending forward if this is an injury from power-lifting. Once you determine which movement is the one which causes pain, the strategy will be to reverse this movement by moving the opposite way (upward dog yoga pose if the pain occurs from bending forward). You do this movement daily in tandem with the next strategy. You must begin strengthening your core with STATIC/ISOMETRIC exercises. Think planks and ab wheels (also google dead bug and ab vacuum exercises). Don't do any core exercises which will extend or flex your spine (ex. crunches).

These two strategies will help repair your spine. Performing regular heavy isometric ab work is essential for all lifters, especially those with previous low back injuries.

Two tips for power-lifting: 1) don't squat if you have any butt wink (ankle mobility is a big factor in eliminating this). 2) Don't jerk or use any momentum when deadlifting; it's called a deadlift for a reason, you are meant to perform the lift from a dead stop with no momentum, and trying to yank the weight out of the bottom position is seriously dangerous to your spine (avoid this by eliminating all slack in your arms, completely straighten your elbows).

LBEB80 · 2017-02-22T00:10:11+00:00

Have you already had it confirmed by an MRI? If so, there isn't a whole lot you can do as long as it feels better. You have to focus on building up your core strength to protect that area further. Once you do that, start introducing exercises slowly to see what might aggravate it.
I have a couple slipped discs, etc and back squats will eventually trigger it even with low weight. Same with leg press. I can get away though with hack squat machine, smith machine feet forward back squats, front squats, and trap bar deadlifts, among accessory work.

BrodinsOats · 2017-02-22T01:04:32+00:00

You should shop around for a high quality physical therapist. If you have health insurance then it will probably cost you a lot less than $80 per session. My co-pay on a PPO plan in the US is $20.

grunge022 · 2017-02-22T05:03:56+00:00

Don't squat or deadlift. It's not worth it

Title	Herniated disk in lower back. How to find a guide I can trust? Looking for advice.
Author	trp-trp
Upvotes	5
Comments	16
Date	February 22, 2017 12:05 AM UTC (9 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/5vf91x/herniated_disk_in_lower_back_how_to_find_a_guide/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/herniated-disk-in-lower-back-how-to-find-a-guide-i.83015 https://theredarchive.com/post/83015

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